Absentminded Angel [Divine Creek Ranch 20] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Heather Rainier

  Presley Ann could practically see Leah’s face and hear her voice. “If you don’t go for this, you’ll regret it. Trust your instincts. They’re better than you think.”

  “I can spare a few minutes,” she said as she slipped Whit back into his sling.

  “We’ll get you warmed up in my shop, and I can show you around. Oh, don’t forget to lock up your car, dear. This is a nice neighborhood, but not that nice.”

  Embarrassed, Presley Ann turned back and locked the doors and set the alarm with the remote. She shook her head, wondering why someone would want to do business with someone so easily distracted and forgetful. When she’d talked to Emma about it while she was pregnant, Emma had told her that she bore some of the markers for ADD but she hadn’t pursued the issue because she didn’t want to take medications if she could do without them.

  Mrs. Finch drew her into the cozy holiday atmosphere of her shop. She smiled as she turned in a circle, taking in the smorgasbord of handmade goods surrounding her. Even at that time of the day, on a weekday, the store was alive with activity and shoppers getting last minute Christmas shopping done.

  When Presley Ann left the Sunday Haus a little later it was with a lighter heart. Possibilities lay before her. A way she could make ends meet, fulfill a need, and be home with her son more than she’d previously thought possible.

  Mrs. Finch needed a supplier for handmade baby slings, waterproof diaper covers, and flannel burp cloths. She’d needed a little help from Leah with the math and the business plan, but Presley Ann already knew how many of the slings she needed to make in a week, and how many she had to sell in order to recover the cost of the sewing machine and go part-time at Stigall’s. With the extra income plus the commission sales she’d soon be making at Stigall’s, she could build her savings back up and get on solid financial footing.

  That meant she could provide her son with more than just the basics. She couldn’t buy a house or anything, but she could make them more comfortable. A shoestring budget had been her reality and seeing a little light at the end of the tunnel was both exhilarating and intimidating.

  Whit made a burbling sound and she smiled down at him.

  “You’re awesome, peanut.” He showed his dimples before blinking sleepily.

  After giving him a quick diaper change and getting him set in his car seat, she draped a blanket around his legs and set out on the drive home. The visit in the store had consumed time she’d originally planned on spending on the drive so she was getting a later start than she’d intended.

  Traffic slowed as a messy drizzle started falling. All was quiet in the backseat as Whit snoozed contentedly. It was a little late for a nap, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

  Cars swerved in and out of traffic on the interstate and her nerves were taut as she kept to her lane and headed west. Sure enough, traffic suddenly came to a dead halt. It was start and stop for an hour as an accident was cleared from the congested roadway and the afternoon had dwindled into evening before she finally left San Antonio behind and still had the long drive to Divine in front of her. She was tired of being in the car, and when Whit woke up she could tell he felt the same.

  She had to turn on her headlights as she took her exit from the interstate and doubled back to connect with the state highway that would take her closer to home. The rain started coming down heavier, and she wasn’t surprised when Jared’s phone began ringing.

  She swiped her thumb over the screen and kept her eyes on the road, promising herself she’d keep it brief. “Hello?” She expected to hear one of the men in an agitated state.

  “Who is this? Did I just call…” the female caller babbled out a rapid series of numerals. Presley Ann glanced at the screen and groaned. There was a selfie of a senorita making a sexy kissy face. It was probably too much to hope that this was one of his old neighbors.

  Sounding even more irritated, the voice shouted over the line. “Hello! I know you’re there. I can hear your breathing.”

  Here we go. “This is Jared McCulloch’s phone. Can I help you?”

  Long pause and then a growl. “Is he fucking you?”

  “What?”

  “You fucking heard me! Is he fucking you? You know what? Never mind. You tell that cocksucking bastard that his girlfriend Jasmine called. You tell that sack of dog shit that I’m sending my brothers after him! You tell him—”

  “Hold up,” Presley Ann said firmly, but the woman had lapsed into a combination of rapidly spoken English and Spanish and probably couldn’t hear her over her own yelling.

  In a time before the baby, she would’ve given as good as she got, and probably enjoyed it, just for the entertainment of stirring up trouble. But the woman she wanted to be couldn’t hold her head up with pride if she participated in that kind of drama.

  “Hello? Jasmine? Put a cork in it!”

  That got Jasmine’s attention and she practically snarled. “What?”

  The rain had increased, and a glance at the temperature display told her that ice on the road was a possibility. Impatient to be done with something that was none of her business in the first place, she said, “Jared loaned me his phone for the day. He’s not fucking me. But if he was, I’d fuck him well enough that he’d never want to move away. When I see him tonight I’ll pass on your message. Have a lovely day.” Click.

  “I knew better than to answer that call,” she muttered to herself, thinking she needed to mind her tongue better from now on, with impressionable ears so close. And Jared was a young, good-looking guy in his prime. She’d known him a short time and didn’t have any claim to him, so she had no right to feel possessive of him. She wasn’t jealous, she just didn’t like the way that Jasmine had insulted him to her. She knew firsthand that men could be players, but the way Jasmine talked about Jared didn’t jive with the guy she knew.

  She slowed down a little so the big dually truck coming up beside her could pass before they reached the fork in the road, where it narrowed to two lanes. One lane would continue on to Morehead and the other veered off toward Divine. The truck, which was pulling a long flatbed trailer, pulled ahead of her and the driver put on his blinker and then began to move into her lane.

  It was obvious he was misjudging distances, because the flatbed trailer was parallel with her car as he encroached into her lane. Knowing she risked spinning out if she slammed on her brakes, she took her foot off the gas pedal with her heart in her throat and prayed her deceleration would make up the difference. It was close and the rear fender of the trailer clipped her front end as he pulled ahead. She honked her horn and held tight to the steering wheel as the car fishtailed crazily down into the frozen muddy ditch.

  Chapter Five

  Jared was glancing with growing concern at the big clock on the kitchen wall in the firehouse when Kendry’s phone rang. Kendry lifted it from his pocket as he made eye contact with his brother. The same worry for Presley Ann was in his eyes.

  Several of their coworkers, including the chief, were sitting around the dinner table involved in various pursuits while Kendry was cooking supper for the crew on duty that night.

  “Hello? Whoa, kitten, slow down. Start over.” Tilting his head, Jared could just barely make out the faint sound of her voice over the line, sounding agitated.

  I knew it. Something’s wrong.

  Kendry looked over at him and whispered, “She and Whit are okay,” before speaking into the phone again. “It’s okay. I’m glad it was us that you called. Stay on the line for just a minute.” He put the phone to his chest and turned to the chief. “Presley Ann Woodworth got run off the road at the FM 709 cutoff and she’s stuck in the mud.”

  The chief frowned as he looked up to the clock, which also displayed the outside temperature. “It’s below freezing now and she won’t have much of a windbreak out there—”

  “We’ll go after her,” Scott O’Hara said as he and his brother Kevin rose from their places at the table.

  Jared frowned and said, “No you’
re not.” Scott had already made it clear he was interested in Presley Ann, and he wasn’t giving the big redneck an opening if he could help it. “I’ll go—if that’s okay with the chief.”

  Kevin was about to argue when the chief cut him off. “Jared goes. You can take the fire and rescue truck since it has a winch and chains if you need it. Is the baby okay?”

  “Baby’s fine,” Kendry said as he stirred the pot of pinto beans on the stove. “She’s sitting in the car with the heater running, but I could hear her teeth chattering.”

  “I don’t see why—” Scott began to say before Chief nailed him with an unamused stare.

  “O’Hara, one of these days you’re going to be sincerely interested in a woman and you’re gonna hope I afford you the same courtesy. Drop it.” Chief looked at Jared. “Sooner you get there, the sooner she and the baby can warm up. Cases like this that can turn dangerous fast are one of the reasons we have those vehicles. Be careful of ice on the road.”

  Kendry nodded at him from the stove and said, “I’ll tell her you’re on your way.”

  Jared was dressed in all his outer layers and gone within a couple of minutes. Full dark had settled by the time he left Divine. He reached the area near the cutoff and spotted her car. After passing her and doing a U-turn and parking on the shoulder of the road, he turned on the emergency flashers, pulled on his gloves, and jumped out of the vehicle.

  His boots slid in the mud as he made his way down the incline.

  She already had the driver’s side door open by the time he reached her car and he wrapped her in a brief hug, relieved to verify with his own eyes that she was okay. Even though her hands were like ice through his thermal shirt, her arms wrapped tightly around his middle and her face pressed close to his neck felt good. “You’re okay? Whit’s okay?”

  “Yes, just a little chilled and spooked. It’s so dark out here and the temperature kept dropping. Whit’s fine. I got him out of his car seat and nursed him just a few minutes ago. I’m sorry I had to bother you.”

  “Kendry said the other driver clipped you?”

  “Yeah, minor damage, but the roads were slick enough that it sent me into a spin. I’m just glad I didn’t plow through any fences. With my luck there’d be a mean bull in the pasture.”

  He silently agreed and squinted as he looked at her face. “You’re all muddy.”

  She grimaced and said, “I was outside the car when a minivan hit a puddle as they passed me. It got in my mouth, too. Blech!”

  Jared kept his chuckle to himself as he brushed at a smudge on her cheek. “Stay in the car where it’s warm, and I’ll get you out of this mud.” He reached over and put her shifter in neutral and released the emergency brake.

  In such close quarters, he blamed it on the way her lush scent filled his head when he slid a hand behind her head and kissed her, startling a gasp out of her. He held her to his chest as he devoured her lips, feasting on her until she went limp with a soft moan. Her pupils were dilated and her breath came in little high-pitched pants that made his dick hard as granite.

  “Wh–what was that f–for?”

  “Who knew you were headed to San Antonio besides me, Kendry, and Marvin?”

  Her gaze skittered away from his eyes and lingered on his lips and his throat before returning to his eyes again. “No one.” He loved that soft, breathless quality in her voice.

  “If you hadn’t had my phone with you, what would you have done? Marvin’s at home probably watching Wheel of Fortune. He’d assume you were home and wouldn’t know you were stuck out here.” When she swallowed, he heard the sound and realized she might be thirsty. The need to take care of her grew even stronger.

  “I would’ve wound up walking…with the baby.” He saw the stark realization in her eyes.

  If something happened to you, angel…

  “Five miles, in the rain, on a dark stretch of icy road.” She leaned into him and gave him a soft kiss and whispered, “Thank you.”

  He nodded and closed her in the car and set to work, thoughts of her walking by herself on the side of the road with the baby in her arms. She was dressed in work clothes—just a skirt, blouse, and a trench coat. For crying out loud, she had little flats on her feet that were completely covered in mud. By the time she’d trekked the five miles into town she’d be at risk for frostbite and the baby…God, he couldn’t even think about if the wrong person stopped to pick her up. A shudder that had nothing to do with the cold rippled through him as he connected the tow chains to the undercarriage of her car.

  When he had her pulled out of the mud he went back to the car, glad that the stretch of road had only seen a few vehicles. She rolled her window down and he said, “Follow me to the fire station so we can check you and the baby.”

  “Oh, I don’t think that’s really—”

  “Are you willing to move Whit’s car seat and ride with me? We’ll get Dave to pick up your car.”

  “No, it’s drivable and the sewing machine I just bought is in the trunk. I won’t leave it out here without reason. I just need to get Whit home and get out of these shoes.”

  “Please, kitten. You’ve been sitting in below freezing weather with your feet wet. Besides, I’m here in an official capacity. Kendry looked really worried.” He’d use whatever means necessary to get her to follow him.

  She paused and then nodded. “Okay, but it seems like a wasted effort when I’m right across the street. I’ll follow you to the station.”

  “Good. We’ll make sure you get across the street once we’re sure you’re both okay.”

  With a nod, she rolled up her window and followed him into town. The car ran fine, although he thought it might need a trip to the garage to make sure the alignment wasn’t off.

  At the station, Kendry charged through one of the doors inside the emergency vehicle bay and had the driver door open in seconds. Knowing Kendry would need a moment with her, Jared opened the passenger door behind her and smiled at Whit, who was looking a little disgruntled at the change in his nighttime routine.

  “Hey, buddy,” he murmured as he unbuckled the car seat and lifted the baby from the nest of blankets Presley Ann had tucked in around him to keep him warm. The cold air hit him and Whit was having none of it as he began to wail.

  Kendry released her from his hug, and she turned to reach for Whit. “This is going to be a long night. Oh—ew!” Jared reached for her as she stumbled slightly and realized that one of her mud-covered flats had slipped from her foot after sticking to the concrete floor of the bay.

  “Leave it for now. Let’s get you inside, young lady,” Chief said as he joined the crowd and took control. He put his arm around her shoulders and escorted her inside as he said, “Any numbness or tingling in your feet or hands?”

  “No, sir. I was only out long enough to check the damage to the car. I called as soon as I realized I was stuck. Please, I’m fine. I’m more worried about my baby.”

  Jared handed Whit, who was still squalling, over to one of the on-duty EMTs who did a quick once over of his extremities and reactions on the couch in the living area of the firehouse before zipping him back into his sleeper and wrapping him up in his thick blanket. “Poor little guy,” he said as he handed Whit off to his mother. “He’s fine, ma’am. I think he’s more pissed off about the disruption to his routine than anything else.”

  Her cheeks were red as she took Whit back from the EMT and Jared noticed that his coworker’s cheeks had also turned a ruddy hue. She said, “Thank you, Robert. I appreciate you checking him. I need to get my shoe.”

  “Got it,” one of the firefighters said as he appeared at her side, wiping the mud off with an old dishrag. “It’s soaked clean through and I’m not sure you’ll want to wear them again, but it’ll get you home.”

  She blushed even darker as she looked at the firefighter and her bedraggled little shoe in his hand, and took it from him with a whispered “thank you.” Seeming agitated, she turned to Jared and Kendry and quietly said, �
��If it’s okay to go, I really need to get him home.” Her eyes were a little bloodshot and she looked worn out.

  “Of course, dear,” the chief said as he patted her shoulder. “Jared and Kendry will see that you get inside your apartment all right. Gentlemen, make sure she gets warmed up, too.”

  The chief’s words seemed to embarrass her, and she nodded. Jared saw a spark of spirit in her eyes but she only nodded and pressed her lips together.

  Once they had her across the street, Jared carried the large, heavy box up the stairs for her. Her apartment felt like a refrigerator. Still dressed in her mud-spattered clothes and muddy shoes, she kneeled beside the tub and filled it with warm water and undressed Whit, murmuring to him as she laid him in his bath seat in the tub. The second he was enveloped in the warm water, his wailing ceased and she heaved an audible sigh of relief. The boy had a seriously loud set of pipes when he tuned up.

  She looked up at Jared and said, “There are matches in the medicine cabinet. Would you mind lighting the wall heater for me? I don’t want him to get chilled when I lift him out.”

  “Sure.”

  The apartment wasn’t much warmer when she came out of the bathroom carrying the towel-wrapped infant. With speed and efficiency, she grabbed everything she needed and laid him on her bed to diaper and dress him. He started whimpering when the cool air hit his bare skin.

  Jared said, “It’s still pretty cold up here. Is the bathroom heater your only means of heating this space?”

  With a shake of her head, she said, “Marvin gave me a space heater but I don’t like using it, especially at night. It’s pretty old and it scares me to think of accidentally leaving it on and it starting a fire.”

  That didn’t sit well with Jared. Granted, the winters weren’t as harsh in Divine as they were in other parts of the country, but it was still too cold in the apartment for them to be comfortable. The need to fix the situation for her was hard to ignore.